Collateral

Rose exits her car. She looks around the parking lot of the school. She feels very out of place here, as a 21-year-old woman, wearing a black jacket and leather pants. Other parents are wearing dresses and suits, and look way older.

Rose sighs. Tuition in this school is very expensive. Even with the generous payments of Mr Smith, she still struggles to pay for everything. She shakes her head. It doesn’t matter. Ellie’s education is way more important than money.

Rose looks to her side and sees a man with a shaved head looking at her. He is wearing a fancy suit, and Rose estimates him to be in his mid-thirties. Rose tries to ignore him, but he is staring at her intensely, not even trying to hide it. Rose rests her hand on her gun.

The bell rings. Children begin pouring out of the school and into the parking lot. “Hi, little angel!” Rose calls out. Ellie came running toward her.

“Hi, Mom! Did you miss me?” She runs to her and hugs her. Rose looks down at her 5-year-old daughter. She is so beautiful. She has straight black hair and big green eyes.

“Of course I missed you!” Rose says. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom!”

“How was school?” Rose asks.

“Good,” Ellie replies.

Rose smiles. “That’s great. Did you learn anything new?”

“Yes,” Ellie says. “We learned about the solar system. About the eight planets.”

Rose nods. “That’s very interesting. Which one is your favourite?”

“Mars!” Ellie says. “Cause it is red. Just like strawberries.”

“Mommy, can we go to the park now?” Ellie asks.

Rose helps Ellie into the passenger seat of the car and fastens her seatbelt. When she closes the door, she sees the man walking up to her.

“Why are you following me?” Rose asks. Her fingers reach for a gun.

“I thought I recognised you. And now that I see your little sister, I am sure of it.” the man says.

“She is my daughter, not my sister. And I have no idea who you are. Why are you following me?”

“I wasn’t following you. I am here with my wife to pick up my daughter.” He gestures to a blond woman in a pink dress and an equally blond seven-year-old girl. “I just wasn’t sure if I recognised you. But seeing your daughter confirmed it.”

“Who are you and what do you want?”

“My name is Arthur Johnson. I am a fixer. I have seen you before at the Turbo Circuit Racing Track. Your child is often waiting there for you. Do you work there?”

“I do.” Rose snaps. “Not that it is any of your business.”

“Are you interested in making a bit of extra money?”

“I make enough money, thank you. I am not interested.”

“You really stand out here. Must be hard for you to afford to send your daughter to this school.”

“I am doing fine. I am not desperate for money.” Rose scoffs. “Please leave me alone.”

The man sighs. He then gestures at Ellie, who sits in the passenger seat playing on her phone. “Don’t you think she feels out of place here?” he asks. “She doesn’t look like any other child here. She looks like a poor kid. Don’t you think that’s wrong?”

Rose is losing her patients and tightens her grip on her gun. She doesn’t know how to respond. She doesn’t want to make a scene. “I’m sorry, I am not interested in whatever you are selling. I don’t want to talk to you. Please leave me alone”

“I’ll give you more money than you could ever make working a normal job. And you can even use it to move to a better neighbourhood with your daughter.”

Rose signs. “You are not gonna get your way by insulting me and my daughter. Please go away.”

The man hands Rose a note. “Then I will speak in a language you do understand. This is the amount I am talking about.”

Rose opens the note.

Rose looks back at him. “That is an insane amount of money. What do you want me to do?”

“I won’t explain here. Meet me somewhere more private, and we will talk.”

He hands Rose another note, with an address written on it, and a phone number.

“Meet me there, tomorrow at nine in the morning, and we’ll talk more.”

“I’ll be there.”